There is well known a control apparatus for a vehicle provided with a motor/generator functioning as a drive power source, and an automatic transmission which constitutes a part of a power transmitting path between the motor/generator and drive wheels and which is shifted to a selected one of a plurality of gear positions with an engaging action of one of a plurality of coupling devices. A control apparatus disclosed in JP-2009-166643A is an example of this type of control apparatus for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus. The control apparatus disclosed in this document is configured to implement a coasting shift-down action of the automatic transmission to a first-speed gear position such that a coupling device for establishing the first-speed gear position is brought into its fully engaged state by raising an engaging hydraulic pressure of the coupling device when an input speed of the automatic transmission has been raised to a target value during a rise of the input speed toward a synchronizing speed of the first-speed gear position with an increase of an input torque of the automatic transmission by an increase of an output torque of a second motor/generator connected to an input shaft of the automatic transmission.
By the way, the vehicle may be driven in a backward or rearward direction while the automatic transmission is placed in a forward-drive low-speed gear position (first speed gear position, for example). The vehicle is driven in the rearward direction with the motor/generator being operated in a negative direction (opposite to a positive direction for forward driving of the vehicle) to generate a negative torque (opposite to a positive torque for the forward driving). In this case, if the motor/generator initiates the generation of the negative torque as a result of an operation of a shift lever to a reverse drive position (in response to a requirement for reverse driving of the vehicle) in the process of a shifting action of the automatic transmission to the forward-drive low-speed gear position, it is difficult for an input speed of the automatic transmission to approach a synchronizing speed of the forward-drive low-speed gear position, so that it is difficult to establish the forward-drive low-speed gear position, giving rise to a risk of delay of generation of a reverse drive force (reverse drive torque) by the motor/generator.